CH 20

The weather in the secret realm was very strange. One moment, the sun would be shining splendidly high in the sky, and then in the next moment an overwhelming downpour of rain would sheet the air. Qin Kaiyi and that elder brother in the mask had just finished their confusing discourse when they were soaked by sudden heavy rain. He hid under a tree for a bit, but then saw that the rain seemed as if it would continue for a while longer. Qin Kaiyi had no choice but to consider finding a mountain cave to seek cover.

He was still unable to detach the mask stuck firmly to his face. However, taking off the mask wasn’t as important as finding a place to temporarily stay. It was raining, and he had to find a safe place to cultivate sooner or later. 

Fortunately, Qin Kaiyi had good luck. He found a hidden cave near the river shortly after searching in the woods. Qin Kaiyi first checked the situation in the cave with a spell. After confirming that there were no spirit beasts or lingering trails of human beings, he entered the cave.

The cave was not too deep, and it was somewhat similar to his dongfu. Because of how humid the jungle was, the rock walls of the cave were covered with green moss. However, Qin Kaiyi found that the ground of this potential abode seemed strangely different from those of ordinary caves. It seemed to have been polished by hand, without the vestiges of the moss that grew on the walls or of any other plants.

These unusual circumstances almost certainly pointed to trouble. Although Qin Kaiyi felt a little uneasy in his heart, he decided to stay put for now when he took a look at the heavy rain outside. After the rain stopped, he would make a decision. After all, the forest already held great danger, and now it was even raining. If he really encountered some ferocious spirit beast, he might not even have the opportunity to attempt an escape and could directly lose his insignificant life.

With this in mind, Qin Kaiyi created a fire in the cave. He hung his soaked clothes over the flames. As he roasted his soggy clothes, he lamented that he must really have a fated relationship with water. 

Seeing that the clothes were almost baked through, Qin Kaiyi took out some prepared dry food from his ring, thinking about filling his stomach first. It had been a day since he entered the secret realm, but he hadn’t eaten anything. Feeling so hungry that he felt that his chest must be sticking to his back, Qin Kaiyi gobbled up the dry food he’d cooked bit by bit. He glanced at the curtains of rain outside the cave, and then at his own sorry state. He could only choke out two bitter laughs to express his current state of mind. 

“Hmph, you look like a dog who lost his home. I really don’t know how Xue Xian could have a disciple like you.” A voice that was both frigid with irony and scorching with mocking rang from his sea of ​​knowledge. Qin Kaiyi wanted to roll his eyes when he heard this. He rudely responded to the ridicule: “I’m begging you, my shizu has already gone away to heaven for tens of thousands of years, so sir, please let my shizu rest in peace.”

“Hmph.” Still exuding arrogance, Yan Gu continued to look for his faults: “You are a waste of your talents. If this body was under my control, it would long have reached the fasting period.”

Qin Kaiyi suddenly discovered that this Yan Gu really had a lot to say… 

“Boy, you really won’t consider a deal with me?” Yan Gu saw that Qin Kaiyi was ignoring him, and began trying to convince Qin Kaiyi: “I promise, if you agree to do this deal with me, you can stand at the top of the cultivation world within a hundred years. “

“Then have you rob my body?” Qin Kaiyi asked with a smile. He would never believe that pies could just fall into his lap from the sky. He didn’t have the almighty protagonist halo, yet encountered a “good thing” like Yan Gu. There was a ninety-nine point nine nine nine nine nine percent chance that there were hidden caveats.

“Who wants your rotten body.” Yan Gu seemed to fly into a humiliated rage at having been seen through–the flames surrounding him burned even brighter in Qin Kaiyi’s sea of ​​knowledge. “I haven’t even told you what the deal would entail.”

“Then tell me and let’s see?” Qin Kaiyi wanted to know what kind of temptation this Yan Gu would try to dangle in front of him. 

“I can provide you with a map of the labyrinth in the secret realm, and you… can help me get a thing.” Seeing the signs of Qin Kaiyi relenting, Yan Gu hurriedly said: “That thing is inside the maze. You can take it out while you grab treasure.”

“What kind of thing?” Qin Kaiyi asked with an eyebrow raised.

“It’s… not good! It has an otherworldly aura!” Suddenly saying some silly words, Yan Gu went silent. No matter how Qin Kaiyi called him, he wouldn’t answer.

“Fuck me (T/N: he uses 我靠, which sounds like the curse but isn’t. “Fudge me” seemed a bit too awkward to use)… What are you doing.” Before Qin Kaiyi could get some kind of an answer, he suddenly went silent–there was a rustling sound in the woods outside the cave, as if someone was walking over. Combined with Yan Gu’s abnormal reaction, Qin Kaiyi unhappily concluded that someone must be coming towards him. 

Who was it? With the bracelet on his wrist clenched in his hand, Qin Kaiyi’s expression was very grave. Most of the people he would bump into in the secret realm would be enemies and not friends. Killing others to snatch treasure was entirely too normal an occurrence. 

Although he was emotionally prepared, Qin Kaiyi was still surprised when he saw the appearance of the person coming. He looked at the soaked teenager and gave a small cry of alarm: “Shen Feixiao!”

Enemies on a narrow road: this saying was probably used just for these kinds of situations. ╮╭

Compared with Qin Kaiyi’s surprise, Shen Feixiao showed more vigilance instead. That was reasonable. Suddenly finding a person wearing a golden mask in a cave, any person would feel their hackles raise.

Qin Kaiyi only realized after seeing Shen Feixiao’s expression… he was wearing a mask on his face and did not need to fear being recognized by Shen Feixiao.

Shen Feixiao seemed to be holding a trembling eggplant in his arms, and he looked at the weird man sitting in the cave with a cold expression. He had been looking for a place to shelter from the rain for a long time. He finally found a cave, but there was someone inside. The situation was not very good. If he missed out on this cave… he didn’t know how long it would take to find shelter, nor when the rain would stop.

“Come in,” Qin Kaiyi said, changing his voice. After all, he couldn’t bear to watch Shen Feixiao standing outside in the rain.

“…” Having heard this, Shen Feixiao’s eyes revealed a bit of hesitation, but then he glanced at the sable who was still shaking in his arms. After clenching his teeth, he walked into the cave and sat not far from the entrance.

Well, this vigilance made sense. Qin Kaiyi rubbed the edge of his golden mask. Suddenly, he felt like this thing called a Yan Gu actually had a bit of use…

“Come and dry by the fire,” Qin Kaiyi helplessly said, looking at the Shen Feixiao who had shrunk into himself at the entrance of the cave. “Your pet is sick?”

Seeming to consider the sincerity in Qin Kaiyi’s words, after a long silence Shen Feixiao said: “It ate something bad.”

“Oh.” Qin Kaiyi recalled from the novel that after entering the secret realm, the sable really was abnormal for a short time… and of course it wasn’t sick. After eating a spirit fruit, the sable was about to evolve.

Alas, this really was the protagonist. Just picking two fruits can result in such fortune. If Qin Kaiyi tried this and picked some random fruit, he might get poisoned… 

“Which sect are you from?” No matter how he looked at the masked man, he seemed suspicious. Shen Feixiao didn’t let down his guard.

Qin Kaiyi didn’t want to answer this question at first, but an interesting thought suddenly came into his mind, so Qin Kaiyi said with a smile: “Lingshan Sect. Well, was the chicken I gave you tasty?”

“It’s you!!!” Shen Feixiao’s looked exceptionally stunned. He fixed his gaze at the pure gold mask on Qin Kaiyi’s face: “You… who are you really?”

“I am just me ah.” Qin Kaiyi finally understood why everyone liked to act like pretentious pricks… This kind of superior feeling was undeniably too cool!!

“Why did you help me?” Shen Feixiao forgot his manners and yelled: “What do you intend to do?”

“If I meet you once you just have to ask me once.” Qin Kaiyi said innocently: “Do I need a reason to help you?”

“… Of course you do.” Shen Feixiao absolutely did not believe that there was anyone in the world who would treat him well without cause or reason.

“Okay.” Qin Kaiyi lowered his voice and pretended to say with deep feeling: “I’ve fallen for you…”

“…” Shen Fexiao.

“…” Qin Kaiyi.

After big eyes silently stared into small ones for quite a while, Shen Feixiao opened his mouth and replied faintly: “What do you mean by ‘fallen for me’?”

… Qin Kaiyi finally understood the meaning of “one cannot escape from self-inflicted disaster.” This child Shen Feixiao really was a dumbass!!

“Can you stop asking why?” Qin Kaiyi sighed: “Can you ask something else?”

“Do you have food.” Shen Feixiao was not polite, and directly got to the point.

“Cough cough.” Almost choking on his own saliva, Qin Kaiyi drew dry food from his arms and smiled to Shen Feixiao: “You little fart, sit down a bit closer, still afraid I’ll eat you?”

Shen Feixiao hesitated for a while, and then slowly moved to sit next to Qin Kaiyi’s campfire, taking the dry food that Qin Kaiyi handed over: “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Qin Kaiyi waved his hand and chatted casually: “Why are you here?” In fact, Qin Kaiyi wanted to ask… How did you find this cave too? Yet Shen Feixiao understood this as… how are you also in the secret realm?

Then……

“I was set up by Qin Shi.” Shen Feixiao’s tone was obviously full of anger and hatred: “If I find him, I will definitely kill him.”

… Hey, you little juvenile, is it really scientific (T/N: reasonable) to say bad things to someone’s face? Wanting to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, but finding that he was still wearing a mask, Qin Kaiyi laughed: “Why should small children commit violence and murder?”

“I am not a child.” Shen Feixiao angrily retorted: “I am already twelve years old, twelve years old!!”

“……… ==.” Qin Kaiyi showed that he didn’t want to say anything anymore.